


Wisdom's Daughter Walks Alone

by AidanChase



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Mark of Athena AR, and dont go together, graphic violence warning more like minor violence warning, maybe slightly more realistic canon typical violence, other stuff changes, percy and annabeth get separated before tartarus, tragic percabeth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-18
Updated: 2015-12-11
Packaged: 2018-05-02 07:18:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5239505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AidanChase/pseuds/AidanChase
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>New Rome won against the invasion of the giants, but Percy was taken captive by the giant Polybotes. Annabeth arrives in New Rome a day too late to save her boyfriend. Their journey is only harder from there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Wisdom's Daughter Walks Alone

It was too late to turn back now.

Annabeth took a deep, steadying breath, and gripped the railing of the Argo II as it sailed through the clouds.

Leo was at the helm, sailing them ever closer to New Rome and Camp Jupiter. Piper was pacing, muttering under her breath. Annabeth knew Piper was just practicing what she would say to the Romans. They were relying on Piper to keep the Romans from attacking them.

Relying on Piper and Jason, that is. Jason stood at the prow, looking as calm as he usually did, a picture of perfect confidence, but Annabeth could see the tension in his shoulders and the crease between his eyes. He must’ve been nearly as nervous as she was, if not more. He was returning home for the first time in months. He’d put his purple robes over his Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, hoping his rank as praetor might give them a chance to speak. That was all they wanted. A chance to talk.

That and Percy Jackson.

Annabeth shook her head, trying to clear it. As badly as she wanted to see Percy, as badly as she needed to see him, she couldn’t let it interfere with their already testy plan for peace with the Romans.

The hull of the Argo II broke through the clouds and the rolling green hills of Oakland, California spilled out beneath them, and so did New Rome.

Annabeth took in a sharp breath of air. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, exactly, maybe a camp like hers but with white marble and grumpier campers. But what she saw was far worse than anything she’d dreamed of.

The valley itself was easily twice as big as Camp Half-Blood in Long Island. A river, the Little Tiber, Jason had said, snaked through the valley. She could see barracks and a training camp and a city–well, the remnants of those things.

About half of the city was reduced to rubble. The barracks were smashed through and still smoking from whatever had burned them down. There was a hippodrome that seemed to be crumbling more than the Coliseum in Rome.

A horn blew through the camp and Annabeth looked at Jason.

He looked like someone had punched him in the stomach. His mouth hung open and his eyes were full of fear, worry, and grief. Piper had stopped pacing and come to stand next to him. She put a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t seem to notice.

Leo paused his descent. “Uh, Annabeth? Jason? What do we do?”

Jason’s eyes searched the ruins of New Rome. Annabeth saw people starting to point up at their ship, but no one was getting catapults to blast them out of the sky. She wondered, with a sickening feeling, if that was because they no longer had any.

Teenagers in togas began to stream out of a large building with a cracked dome. Annabeth guessed it was the Senate. She saw recognized Tyson, Percy’s large Cyclops brother, wearing an SPQR banner over the front of his shirt. She didn’t see Percy.

“There are no weapons allowed in the city,” Jason said slowly. “Leave the Argo II here. We’ll climb down.”

Leo left Festus to hover and Piper and Annabeth lowered the rope ladder. Annabeth descended first.

The Romans created a circle around them, but true to Jason’s word, none of them were armed. Annabeth put up her own hands in a show of peace.

Jason climbed down the ladder behind her, and there were gasps and murmurs as Romans recognized him. Then the Romans parted for the senators. Leading the way was a girl who could only be Reyna.

Jason had described her well, but Annabeth would’ve been able to tell she was the leader anyway. Apart from being the most decorated, she carried her head and shoulders high, like if she slumped them even an inch, the weight she was carrying would crush her.

Annabeth and Reyna scrutinized each other for a moment.

Then Reyna looked past Annabeth to Jason.

“Jason Grace, my colleague. I welcome you home, and these, your friends–” she paused, and exchanged a glance with a scrawny blonde kid to her left, “–are welcome here as well.”  
The scrawny boy’s face flushed red and he wrung a lion beanie baby in his hands.

Jason stepped forward and extended his hand for a handshake. “It’s good to be home,” he said, but the words were hollow. “Reyna, this is Annabeth, Piper, and Leo.” He gestured to each in turn. “They took me in when I had nowhere to go.”

A young woman on Reyna’s right–-so like Reyna in appearance she could only be her sister–-stepped forward. “I am Hylla, Queen of the Amazons.” Her eyes lingered on Annabeth for a moment too long, and Annabeth briefly wondered why, but she didn’t dwell on it. She was too busy scanning the crowd for Percy.

Tyson, finally, with a thin harpy on his shoulder, lumbered forward, and Annabeth looked up into his big, sad, brown eye and stifled a sob.

“What happened?” she asked in a choked voice. He was supposed to be here. She couldn’t do this a second time. “What happened to Percy?”

Reyna searched Annabeth’s face for a long moment, and Annabeth had to resist the urge to repeat her question at a scream.

“We have much to discuss,” Reyna said.

\--- --- ---

Annabeth might’ve been impressed with the architecture of the city if she wasn’t so distraught, and if it wasn’t falling apart. It really did look like ruins of Rome, rather than the grand city that Jason had described it. She wondered what he must be feeling, having finally remembered his home, only to find it destroyed when he returned.

She imagined it must be something like the agony she felt, thinking she would finally find Percy after all these months, only to find nothing at all.

Reyna took them into the Senate. Queen Hylla followed, along with the scrawny blond and two Roman soldiers–a boy in armor with a badge of rank pinned to it, and a girl with a cavalry helmet tucked under her arm.

“Romans do not surrender,” Reyna said, and motioned for them to sit in the benches on the right. “But our victory came at a great cost.”

“Reyna–” Jason’s voice sounded like he was in physical pain, “–how did all this happen?”

“We were invaded.” She said it as simply as one might announce that dinner was ready, or that the sink needed fixing, but Annabeth got the feeling that Reyna was good at being factual and not compromising herself with emotional expression. “You might have heard that the giants are returning.”

“We defeated one at the Wolf House,” Piper said. “With the help of Hera.”

The scrawny blonde snorted. “No giant could rise at the Wolf House! That land is sacred, and–”

“And it’s a good thing we did stop it, because it could have started a war between the Greeks and the Romans,” Jason interrupted. “It was Hera who took me from Camp Jupiter and sent me to Camp Half-Blood, in order to unite us against the giants.” He looked up at the hole in the roof of the building. “We should have been here sooner.”

Queen Hylla was using a knife to clean her fingernails as she lounged on one of the benches, somehow making it look like her personal throne. “I’m not sure how much help you would have been. We were overrun, and Hera didn’t show up to help kill Polybotes, so he escaped.”

“It was a hard victory,” Reyna said. “We lost much.”

Annabeth didn’t like the way Reyna wasn’t meeting her eyes. She was just about to demand, again, what happened to Percy, when the girl with the cavalry helmet stepped forward.

“Annabeth.” Her accent was Southern, a little… Cajun? She put something into Annabeth’s hands. “I’m sorry. We tried to save him. But–” The girl’s voice broke and she quickly looked down. Two tears fell and she tried to blink the rest away.

Annabeth refused to look at what was in her hand. “I want to see him,” she demanded. She wouldn’t believe Percy was gone until she saw it.

“It was Polybotes,” the young man in Roman armor said and stepped forward. “The giant took Percy.” He glanced at the cavalry girl, then at Reyna. She got the feeling he was about to drop a bombshell on the group. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it.

“The giants said they would use the blood of demigods to wake Gaea. They won’t kill Percy.”

This was a small comfort to Annabeth. But it was not enough. Her lip trembled uncontrollably. She had been so sure Percy would be here–-she had dreamed he was here-–and she had arrived a day too late.

“The giants also said my blood would stain the Wolf House,” Jason said. “Taint it for generations.”

“If the giants have taken Percy for such a task,” Reyna said slowly, “then we can assume they will awaken Gaea as soon as possible.”

“In Athens,” the cavalry girl said. “That’s where we have to go. We have to stop Gaea and close the Doors of Death.” She looked like she wanted to say something else, but she stopped herself.

Reyna hummed thoughtfully. “The Doors of Death…. Octavian, the Prophecy of Seven, please.”

The scrawny boy sputtered. “Reyna, this is–-”

“Recite it, please. Or go write it down and come back when you have it.”

“Of course I have it memorized,” he said through gritted teeth, then cleared his throat and said, “’Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall. An oath to keep with final breath, And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.’ But Reyna, the last time someone tried to interpret the Prophecy of Seven–-”

“We lost our standard, yes,” Reyna said. “But Percy Jackson returned it to us. It would seem that the foes bearing arms are the Romans and the Greeks.”

“The seven,” Jason said, “is to be a mix from both our camps. Leo, Piper, and Annabeth make up the Greeks.”

Annabeth noticed the way he paused–-they’d expected Percy to join them. She tried to speak, but couldn’t find her voice.

“I am one for Rome,” Jason said, “and we need three more.”

“Praetor, you will just leave?” Octavian said sharply. “After eight months of absence?”

“Well, you can’t go, Octavian,” the cavalry girl said sharply. “You’re not a half-blood.”

Something inside Annabeth registered this as odd, but she didn’t think to comment on it. She only stared curiously at Octavian and the lyre on his forearm that had made her think she was a son of Apollo.

Then, the harpy perched on Tyson’s shoulder said suddenly, “Wisdom’s daughter walks alone, The Mark of Athena burns through Rome. Twins snuff out the angel’s breath, Who holds the key to endless death. Giants’ bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail.”

Annabeth’s heart stopped. She looked up at the harpy, who was plucking a her feathers with her beak.

Octavian’s hands tightened around his stuffed lion. “Was that a prophecy?”

“Ella reads a lot,” the young Roman guard said.

“Books. Ella loves books,” the harpy said quickly.

“We found her in a library,” the cavalry girl said. “Must’ve picked it up in an old book of poetry or something.”

Octavian did not look convinced, and Annabeth didn’t feel convinced either. Then again, she had the Mark of Athena burning in her pocket now. She resisted the urge to check for the coin. It was there. It returned to her pocket as faithfully as Percy’s pen. Percy….

“We have to go to Athens,” she said. Everyone looked at her as if she’d sprouted a child from her head, and she realized she hadn’t said a word since they’d told her what had happened to Percy. “If we can save Percy, we can stop Gaea, and we can close the Doors of Death.” She had no more time to waste. She looked Reyna in the eyes. “We must leave quickly. Will Rome join us?”

“The Ancient Lands are forbidden to Romans,” Reyna said. “It is one of our oldest laws.”

“We want to go,” the Roman guard said. He looked to Reyna. “With your permission, of course.”

The cavalry girl said, “The giants also have my brother. If we can find him and Percy….”

Octavian made a noise in his throat that sounded dangerously un-human. “You two are hardly fit for such a quest. And we need a Senate meeting and a vote and-–”

“Octavian, enough,” Reyna said. “I cannot allow them to go to the Ancient Lands, but Frank and Hazel have proved their merit. They have as much a desire to save Percy Jackson as anyone. Perhaps more.”

“Or perhaps they will be misguided by their emotions, and fail to stop Gaea to save a friend,” Queen Hylla said. Octavian looked proud to be vindicated.

Annabeth felt that statement drive straight into her heart. It seemed like Hylla had meant it for her. But how could Hylla know her?

“Please, Reyna,” Jason said. “You know this is what has to happen.”

Reyna was slow to answer. She met the eyes of Queen Hylla. “We will vote on whether or not we can make an exception to the rule. As for myself, I cannot leave Camp Jupiter. We cannot be leaderless at such a time.” Annabeth watched those words cut into Jason. Maybe Reyna didn’t mean to make him feel guilty for being gone, but he sure looked it anyway. “If Frank and Hazel wish to join you, that is their choice, and the Senate’s.”

“That would make six,” said Piper. “Are there no other Romans who could join us?”

“We find Percy,” Annabeth said. “Then we’ll have seven.”

“I don’t know about this,” said Leo. “Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. Does being kidnapped into a quest really count?”

It had to, Annabeth thought. If Percy were here, he would have come with them. Everyone else, however, seemed to consider Leo’s question seriously.

“What about Dakota?” Jason suggested.

“As if the entire quest should consist of members of the Fifth!” Octavian scoffed indignantly. “Surely we can choose someone from the First.”

“You mean choose someone loyal to you,” Hazel corrected.

Octavian’s already red face looked like it might turn purple at any moment.

“Annabeth,” Reyna said, “perhaps you have an idea.”

She remembered a time Percy had told her about, a quest where Hunters of Artemis combined with campers, and how specific those prophetic numbers had been, and how they had come to include him by accident. “I believe Percy is meant to be the seventh,” she said. “I think trying to replace him would be disastrous.” 

Reyna considered this. “I think if Hera has done as you say she has, with the intention of building her seven, then I agree with Annabeth. We should send only two Romans-–” She cleared her throat. “–-three Romans on the quest.”

“Three Romans to four Greeks?” Octavian sounded scandalized.

“We can afford little more,” Reyna said sharply. “It will take all our resources to rebuild Camp Jupiter. Frank. Hazel. Are the two of you sure this is a risk you wish to take?”

“Yes,” the answered in unison.

“Then we shall put it to a vote,” Reyna said.

\--- --- ---

Annabeth, Piper, and Leo were not allowed at the Senate meeting. Annabeth didn’t mind, and neither did Leo. The only one who seemed truly disappointed was Piper, but whether it was because she was disappointed she couldn’t use the charm-speak she’d been practicing or because she had to leave Jason in New Rome, Annabeth wasn’t sure.

Piper paced the deck while Leo fidgeted with the controls. Annabeth stared out at New Rome, watching as the sun set. No one left the Senate Hall in that time. She tried to imagine New Rome the way it must’ve been before the giant’s attack. She tried to reconstruct the ruins in her head, but she was afraid she was influencing it with her own dreams and her plans for Olympus.  
Finally, the Senate emptied. She could pick out Jason and Reyna, at the back of the group, engaged in close conversation. Annabeth did not call Piper over. She watched Jason return to the camp, and enter a tent that had been set up near the ruins of the barracks. She wondered if it was a good sign or a bad sign that he didn’t return straight to the Argo II.

Piper put a hand on Annabeth’s shoulder and Annabeth realized suddenly how tense she was. Still, she couldn’t seem to loosen her shoulders.

“We should eat dinner. I’m sure Jason will be back soon.”

“I’m not hungry,” Annabeth answered.

Piper looked like she wanted to tell Annabeth to eat anyway, but she said nothing. Annabeth knew she was a hard person to argue with. At least she was right most of the time.

“At least come with me and Leo. You don’t have to eat,” Piper suggested.

“I want to be alone, thank you,” Annabeth said.

Piper didn’t argue with that. She left Annabeth and went below deck.

Annabeth stayed until the night air grew cool. Not nearly as cold as New York could get, but it was significantly different than the day. She thought about going for a jacket, but she didn’t want to move. She felt that if she went inside, if she accepted everything that had happened today, it would make it real. Illogical as it was, her grief told her she could postpone today being true.

So she stayed on deck, until she heard footsteps behind her, but she hadn’t heard anyone climb up the stairs. She grabbed her knife and whipped around, but it was only Jason. He put his hands up, and when recognition filtered into her eyes and she lowered her weapon, Jason pulled the toga over his head.

“The Senate vetoed a quest to the Ancient Lands. Reyna argued for us, but Octavian…. He’s good with words,” Jason sighed, “and I wish you and Piper could’ve been there.”

“What do we do now?” Annabeth asked.

“We go,” Jason said, as if it were obvious, but it was clear to Annabeth the decision was hard for him. He looked at the purple robes in his hands. “Percy needs us, and maybe Nico di Angelo is another one of the seven.”

“Nico di Angelo?”

“Hazel’s brother. The girl from this morning. She’s a daughter of Pluto.”

Annabeth tried to reconcile the confident cavalry rider with Nico di Angelo. They were not at all a pair she would have pegged as siblings. She realized it had been a long time since she’d seen Nico. If Hazel knew Nico, did that mean Hazel had known about Camp Half-Blood, and Nico had known about Camp Jupiter? She hadn’t seen Nico in a long time. She hoped the giants would keep him alive as they would with Percy.

“Would she join us?” Annabeth asked. If they added just Hazel to their number today, and found Percy and Nico, that would be seven.

Before Jason could answer, a giant Roman eagle rose up from the camp and soared towards the ship.

“Don’t let them know I’m here,” Jason said, and disappeared below deck.

Annabeth expected it to be Reyna, to tell her the results of the Senate debate. Or perhaps Octavian, to gloat about the outcome.

It was neither. The giant eagle landed on the deck, tilting the ship dangerously. Hazel slid off its back. She ran over to Annabeth and clasped her hands. “Frank and I are here. Let’s get Jason Grace and go before they notice we’ve gone.”

“Frank?” Annabeth looked over Hazel’s shoulder and saw that there was no giant eagle after all. The young Roman guard from that afternoon stood on the deck of the ship where the eagle had been. He waved sheepishly.

Annabeth went downstairs and got Leo. She helped him hoist anchor–-silently-–and Jason used the winds to get them away from the camp without the sound of the engine giving their escape away.

Formal introductions were made, and Hazel and Frank enjoyed a good Argo II meal, courtesy of the magic plates from Camp. Annabeth still did not eat, and retreated to her room early.  
She wandered down to her favorite place on the ship–the stables, with the glass-bottom bay doors. She stared at the fast-moving ground below and realized that she had kept her fist clenched ever since Hazel had given her something that morning. She was still afraid to make the horror real, but here in her cabin, she felt like she could no longer avoid it.  
Annabeth opened her hand and saw a leather necklace with four clay beads and a tablet with something written on it in Latin.

She choked back a sob. Then she held the beads against her heart, laid down, and cried herself to sleep.


	2. Into the Pit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy and Annabeth are briefly reunited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I'm not going to rewrite another YA series!" is the biggest lie I've ever told and I'm not sorry. So in-between my fifteen other responsibilities I'll be working on this because it has literally consumed my daydreaming. Nothing else holds any luster for me but this ridiculous fanfic and I hate it and I hope it makes you cry. (side note if i spell anything weirdly it's because I listened to Heroes of Olympus on Audible so I tried to check all the names but some of them are pulled from my knowledge of history and mythology apart from Heroes of Olympus so like, sorry if I have differences from Rick Riordan)

The battle of New Rome felt like a distant dream. Or maybe it was real life and he was stuck in a nightmare.

When Percy had faced Polybotes, he’d hoped some god would show up--Hera or Mars maybe, since both were responsible for the stupid quest in the first place. Or maybe Thanatos counted, since he’d promised to be there, but Thanatos never jumped into the fight to help Percy against the giant. Maybe he was too busy dragging Earthborn and Cyclopes souls to the Underworld.

But even though the armies attacking Rome stayed dead, they were strong, and demanded the Legion’s full attention. Percy was alone to face Polybotes while his friends fought gorgons. Still, Percy technically won the battle twice, but Polybotes didn’t die, and as the monster armies retreated, Polybotes had dragged Percy away from the battle by his neck.

Percy cursed himself for being stupid enough to get so far from the fight in the first place. He’d even thought if he could just get to the ocean, he could escape. But Polybotes didn’t take him close enough to the water, and Percy couldn’t get himself free of the giant’s tight grip. He was pulled into the earth.

It was nothing like the muskeg. There was air, for one thing. It was more like a small cave, but it still made Percy claustrophobic. He had trouble breathing, and not just from having a giant’s gross hand around his neck.

The minute Polybotes let him go, Percy yanked his pen out of his pocket and uncapped it. Breathing still eluded him but he had to try to fight.

“No you don’t, Son of Poseidon,” Polybotes growled and grabbed for Percy.

Percy was exhausted and slow and ducked, only to have the giant wrap his thick hand around Percy’s forearm.

Percy cried out in pain as the bone snapped between the giant’s fingers. Riptide clattered to the earth floor, useless. Percy gritted his teeth and promised himself he wouldn’t cry out again. Even as his broken arm was chained behind his back with Imperial Gold, and his fingers started to burn from the nerve damage, he stayed silent.

He could’ve killed for a drink of water. Dust dried his nose and throat out quickly as he was dragged beneath the surface of the earth. He didn’t know where Polybotes was taking him. The original Mount Olympus? Were they going to walk the whole way? If that was the case, maybe his friends would have enough time to save him. How many miles was it through the center of the earth? Did it matter if they were walking inside Gaea? That thought made him want to throw up.

The hard earth floor also scraped his skin off. He knew his knees would be raw and bloody, and parts of his back as well. He sort of missed that curse of Achilles right about now.

He had no way to keep track of time. Everything was layers of earth and bedrock, and at one point Percy realized they weren’t just walking through a tunnel. The earth was closing behind them as it opened before them. This thought gave him a brief moment of panic, and he thrashed against the chains and struggled to pull himself out of the giant’s grip. It did nothing. His fit didn’t even hamper the giant’s movements.

Hunger set in at some point and became a constant. His stomach hurt so badly he thought it must’ve been days since he had food. He started to realize, too, that he wasn’t just thirsty. He was growing dehydrated.

“Hey,” he tried to shout, but his voice was weak and his throat cracked.

“Quiet, demigod,” Polybotes growled at him. The earth seemed to rumble in agreement.

“You want me alive, right? I’m going to die of dehydration if I don’t get food or water.”

“When we reach Rome, you will be provided enough sustenance to keep you alive.”

Great, Percy thought. How far was Rome?

He remembered something Ella had said on their quest-- _Wisdom’s daughter walks alone; The mark of Athena burns through Rome._

Was Annabeth also headed to Rome? That thought gave him renewed courage, and even as his body grew weaker, he held onto the thought of Annabeth in Rome, the way he’d held onto her face as his only memory during his time with the wolves and in Camp Jupiter.

It was the only thing that kept him sane through the monotony of being enclosed by damp earth, the pain of his bruised and broken body being dragged in the dirt, and the weakness and exhaustion from being without food and water.

Percy didn’t know how much time had passed, how many days it had been, how many times he’d drifted in and out of consciousness, but finally the endless earth ended, and Percy breathed in a smell other than damp earth and maggots. This smell wasn’t really any better--musty, fully of decay, and by no means fresh air--but it felt like heaven to Percy’s weak lungs. 

He was delirious, still, from the lack of food and water, but aware enough to try to gauge his surroundings. Now he was being dragged through what looked like an underground tunnel, but a man-made tunnel. He could see decaying paintings on the walls. Ruins. Rome, he thought, hopefully. Rome meant food and water and Annabeth. Percy really couldn’t prioritize between those three things. He needed all of them to keep going.

Then Polybotes dragged Percy into another room and Percy felt something sticky on his raw skin.

“Arachne!” Polybotes boomed.

Percy felt panic rise in his chest. Arachne… wasn’t that like, arachnophobia? Fear of… spiders? _Annabeth._

He wanted to shout for her, warn her, anything, but his body barely worked. He could open his mouth but his throat was too dry for words.

“Arachne, I have come for the girl. The daughter of Athena. Tell me you haven’t eaten her.”

There was a loud shriek and a hissing noise. Percy twisted to look, but he accidentally put his weight on his broken arm and yelped in pain.

“Silence, Son of Poseidon,” Polybotes said, and pressed his large foot on Percy’s chest.

“Percy!” a voice shouted, that was clearly Annabeth.

And then, a voice that was clearly not Annabeth, shrieked with a sound like a thousand whispers, “Help me!”

Percy managed to turn his head towards the sound and saw what looked like a giant spider’s butt sticking out of… a giant Chinese finger trap? And, glowing behind that, was a huge statue of Athena. Percy had the brief thought that he was being sacrificed to the statue of Athena, and he imagined Athena wrinkling her nose at such an offering. He didn’t really get along with Annabeth’s mom.

Then, standing just before Athena’s huge shield, like she’d been hiding behind it, was Annabeth, covered in cobwebs and limping, but alive.

“Annabeth,” Percy gasped. He didn’t know if she heard him, but Polybotes certainly did, because he pressed harder on Percy’s chest.

“So you’ve beaten the Weaver,” Polybotes grumbled. “It matters not. I will take you now to the Earth mother, and your blood will water the ancient steps.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Annabeth said, and stepped forward. “I’m going to kill you and save Percy.”

Polybotes laughed, and the chamber rumbled with the sound. Percy felt the floor beneath him crack. “I cannot be killed, not without the help of a god. What do you think a single demigod such as yourself will do against me?”

Annabeth was always a quick thinker. Percy loved that about her. Despite her injuries and how exhausted she looked, she gestured readily to the statue of Athena. “You know who this is, right? She’ll help me kill you.”

“Foolish child. Athena is as wracked by the war between Greece and Rome as any other god, perhaps more than most. She cannot help you.”

“We’ll see,” Annabeth said, and ran towards Polybotes.

The giant abandoned Percy, perhaps trusting that in his exhaustion, Percy would be unable to fight or escape. Well, Percy thought, as he tried to at least roll over, he wasn’t going to get far if he was going to get anywhere. The safest space was probably behind the Athena Parthenos, but Percy wasn’t sure if Athena or Polybotes were more terrifying right now.

Percy, with a lot of heavy breathing and biting back cries of pain, managed to loosen the chains and wriggle out of them. He reached into his pocket with his good arm and pulled out his pen, but as he stood, the earth swayed under his feet and he fell back into the ground. As he did, a crack in the floor that had been three feet away, suddenly sprouted inches from his nose.

He looked around and saw that the entire floor was covered in cracks. He wondered what was possibly still holding this place together.

He looked at Annabeth and could tell she was concerned about the floor, too. She stepped lightly, and she seemed intent on where she was leading Polybotes. Percy watched the giant’s steps put heavy cracks in the tile. He seemed to care little for the giant spider desperately trying to wriggle out of the finger trap, and he didn’t even notice the floor crumbling beneath his feet.

Percy had a brief moment to admire his brilliant girlfriend, who clearly had a plan to defeat this giant, with or without the help of a god, but then his stomach tightened in pain and he wondered if the spiderwebs were edible. He would do anything for food and water right now, anything to make him fit to help Annabeth.

He saw her backpack lying about twenty feet from him, and surely there was ambrosia inside, but for all it mattered, the backpack could be on Mount Olympus. There was no way for him to reach it. He’d pass out before he could walk that far.

He looked back at Annabeth, who had used some of Arachne’s webbing to climb higher along the wall and leap onto Polybotes shoulder. She stabbed his neck with her dagger and leapt off, grabbing onto another strand of webbing and swinging away like some sort of Tarzan girl.

Polybotes yelled in pain and stumbled backwards, tripping over Arachne. Golden ichor dripped from his neck, but the wound closed, as it had when he battled Percy in New Rome. Without a god or goddess to aid them, what could they do?

Suddenly, the ceiling above opened up and, it was no god or goddess, but a red Fiat crashed into the giant and Arachne, and the ground crumbled into nothingness.

Giant and giant spider fell into the huge pit below. Percy knew instinctively that falling into this pit was worse than death, and he tried to roll away from the spreading cracks. Annabeth was suddenly next to him, and she pulled him over to the statue. Percy wished they weren’t so close to Athena’s feet. She could easily crush him. 

But he soon forgot as Annabeth shoved tiny bits of ambrosia into his mouth, then a sip of water that felt better than any nectar he’d ever tasted. The ambrosia burned in his empty stomach, but he felt a little better, less like he was teetering on the edge of collapse and more like he was three steps away from it.

“What happened?” he croaked, throat still raw, but Annabeth didn’t answer. Instead she squeezed him tight, and kissed him.

It was a better answer than any Percy wanted. He kissed her back, pouring all his remaining energy into the kiss. When they parted, he felt dizzy, and she gave him another sip of water.

He looked up and saw the city of Rome and the hull of what looked like a giant warship Percy had only seen in his dreams.

“Is that the cavalry?” he mumbled wearily.

“Yes,” she said, and gave him another bite of ambrosia. Up to the ship, she called, “Down here!” and waved.

Percy managed to sit up as the crew of the war ship descended. He saw a giant eagle swoop down with Hazel on its back, then the eagle turned into Frank. The two of them rushed him and wrapped their arms around him.

“Gods, you’re alive,” Hazel sobbed.

“We were so worried,” Frank choked, and when they finally let Percy go, Frank was wiping tears from his cheeks.

Percy didn’t know the three who came up behind Frank and Hazel. The tall blonde guy had to be Jason Grace, and the scrawny boy with curly hair looked familiar, but like Percy had seen him in a movie or something, not like Percy actually knew him. The girl looked the same sort of familiar. Percy wondered if he’d seen them in his dreams.

Lastly, there was Nico di Angelo.

“You found him,” Percy said, and motioned Nico forward. “Gods, Nico, you’re alive.” Percy managed a lopsided grin. “You look like hell.”

“You don’t look better,” Nico said. He seemed to have trouble meeting Percy’s eyes, but Percy was used to Nico looking uncomfortable around him. Nico didn’t do well with others, but he came through when needed.

“Well, now what?” asked the scrawny boy. He looked up at the Athena Parthenos like he was sizing it for a new robe. “Maybe we can fit her in the stables. Gonna take some rigging.”

“We need to get her out of here quickly,” Annabeth said. “This pit leads to Tartarus, and it does not like her here.”

Everyone edged back a step, and Nico took back two, so he was nearly on top of Percy. Percy didn’t blame him. Nico had gone looking for the Doors of Death in Tartarus and gotten captured by the giants. Percy couldn’t imagine Nico was eager for a return trip.

The floor rumbled ominously.

“Alright, team,” the scrawny kid said. “Let’s get some ropes and get to work.”

Frank turned into an eagle and the blonde guy, the probably-Jason-Grace-guy, jumped into the air and started flying. Percy wondered if he was still delirious. He knew a daughter of Zeus, and she sure couldn’t fly. Who was this Jason Grace guy?

“We should get out of here, too,” Hazel said a little nervously. She and the other girl started for the ladder.

“Nico,” Percy said as Annabeth helped him stand, “were you able to find the Doors of Death? Can we close them?”

Nico’s face darkened and he glanced down at the pit. “I don’t think we can. The doors need to be closed on both sides.”

“Both sides?” Annabeth echoed. “You mean--in Tartarus?”

“Yeah,” Nico said.

“We’ll figure it out,” Percy said encouragingly. He took a test-step away from Annabeth. So far his legs were supporting him. He managed two more, then leaned against the Athena Parthenos for support.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Nico asked.

Percy shrugged with his good arm. “How long have I been out of the game?”

“Six days,” Annabeth answered.

“Great. I haven’t eaten in six days. I think I’ll make up for it with sixty pancakes and sixty slices of pizza.”

“At the same time?” Annabeth laughed, and gods, it felt so good to hear her laugh.

“Yeah, I’ll wrap one in the other,” Percy grinned. “Like a--”

But he was cut off by her sudden scream, and he realized she was falling.

Percy grabbed for her, but he was weak and slow. He only fell flat on his chest and it was Nico who grabbed Annabeth, just as she went over the side of the cliff, but she started to pull Nico with her, and Percy just managed to grab Nico with his good arm. The weight, though, dislocated his shoulder and he gritted his teeth against the pain.

Percy looked over the side of the pit, and his stomach felt like it dropped in with them. Annabeth was clinging to Nico’s arm and Nico looked like he could barely hang onto her and Percy’s hand.

“I can’t pull her up,” Nico said. He looked up, brown eyes meeting Percy’s for the first time in what must’ve been months. They were full of fear and desperation.

Percy tried pulling, but his shoulder protested with pain and it was all he could do not to let go. He looked back at the ship and tried to shout for Hazel or Frank, but his voice was too weak.

“Percy,” Annabeth’s voice called up. “Percy, you have to let me go.”

“No,” he said immediately. “I’m not letting either of you go.”

“Percy--” This was Nico, and when Percy looked back at him, the desperation had been replaced with determination. “--Let us go. I’ll take her to the Doors of Death. We’ll close them on this side. You make sure the others get to Epirus. We’ll meet you there.”

“I can’t ask you to go through Tartarus again,” Percy said.

“You never have to,” Nico said, and Percy thought there might be something else in the way Nico said that, something that reminded Percy of old wounds and long-held fears, but he wasn’t sure why.

“It’s the only way,” Annabeth said. “I’ll see you at the Doors of Death.”

This wasn’t fair, Percy thought, but fair never mattered on quests. He’d only just gotten back to Annabeth, after months of being without her, and he had to leave her behind. He had to leave her in Tartarus.

“Annabeth--I love you.”

“I know,” she said.

“Nico--”

“I know,” he said. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”

“You too. Promise me you’ll both come back safe.”

“Yeah, I promise.”

And Percy, against everything he felt and believed in, let go.


	3. House of Hades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy must sail to Epirus with the Argo II, but the weight of losing Annabeth just might crush him if he doesn't get help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate how much this fic consumes my every waking thought and I can't wait until I get it out of my bloodstream. I wrote this in like 5 hours on no sleep and I hate everything but I love this story and I want to be sorry about it, but I'm not.
> 
> So this chapter hardcore skims the events of House of Hades as the Argo II sails its way to Epirus. It focuses purely on Percy, his development with each crew member on the Argo II (except Coach Hedge, because it would probably take actual money to convince me to mine that relationship). 
> 
> Anyway, I really like it and I hope you do too. I hope you cry buckets because I am. But if you don't, no worries. Nico doing Tartarus round 2 with the girlfriend of the love of his life will certainly make you sob, and that's coming next.

Being on the _Argo II_ was strange for Percy. He had his own room, which must’ve been prepared by Annabeth, because it was perfect for him. But that only made it harder to be in. Instead, he spent most of his time above deck, breathing the fresh air, or in sick bay, letting Piper treat him while Hazel and Frank stood nearby, doing very little but worrying loudly and being in the way.

That was the other strange thing, besides his bedroom being uncomfortable--he didn’t actually know most of the people on the ship. He knew Frank and he knew Hazel, and he was glad and flattered they’d broken Roman law to come rescue him. Him and Nico, anyway.

But Jason, Piper, Leo, and Coach Hedge? They were strangers to him. Piper tried talking to him about Camp Half Blood, and that helped. It really did. He hadn’t had a lot of time to process his memories of home once they’d returned, and even though he didn’t have any shared memories with Piper, talking with her about the strawberry fields and the pine trees made adjusting easier.

And as much as Percy wanted to eat sixty pancakes and sixty slices of pizza, he was expressly forbidden from eating large meals, courtesy of literally everyone. Because Piper, all-around-expert-on-everything, told them that it was unhealthy to go from no food to copious amounts of food, and he needed to slowly ease himself back into a regular diet. She’d learned this on one of her dad’s movie sets. Oh, yeah, Piper McLean was the daughter of Tristan McLean. Tristan freaking McLean.

That was almost as shocking as actually meeting Jason Grace, the praetor everyone had talked about at Camp Jupiter. He looked, honestly, exactly like Percy expected him to. Tall, blonde, with broad shoulders and incredible leadership charisma. He led the _Argo II_ so well, Percy wondered if it had been Jason or Annabeth in charge on their way to Rome. Leadership could’ve been a point of conflict between Percy and Jason, except for the part where Percy was still recovering from being dragged through the earth and nearly starving to death. He wasn’t really fit to lead just yet.

Then there was Leo. Percy talked to Hazel about him, after he remembered seeing Leo’s face in that photograph in Alaska. Apparently he was Hazel’s ex-boyfriend’s great-grandson? Yeah, _that_ didn’t complicate things.

On top of it, Hazel was, of course, worried about Nico, and Frank was surprisingly unfocused. Percy didn’t understand that part. Frank was someone Percy counted on. It was weird to see him spaced out more often than not.

Hazel, though, was the one Percy talked to the most. She seemed to think that because her brother and Percy’s girlfriend were going through Tartarus together, that meant that she and Percy needed each other’s support. And she was totally right. As much as Percy worried about Annabeth, he knew Hazel was just as worried. It helped, at least for the first few days.

But as Percy’s strength returned, he started to get irritable. Every problem they ran into became something standing between him and Annabeth. And the _Argo II_ ran into a lot of problems.

First, there were the rock giants that blocked their path across the Apennine Peninsula. Percy normally would’ve been the first to suggest they take the sea route, especially because traveling over land was dangerous, but he also knew it would take far too long. While Percy recovered in sick bay and was practically spoon-fed broth by Piper, Hazel took care of the journey. Percy wasn’t sure about the details, but he knew it had something to do with Hecate, and that made him nervous. She certainly hadn’t been on their side in the war with the Titans.

Then there were the dwarves. Percy was at least back on his feet by that point--little good it did him. They were quick, and had Percy locked in a closet before he could even get to the stairs to the upper deck. Leo was the one who came and found him and told him he’d taken care of the dwarves. That had been really embarrassing. No one else commented on it, probably trying to be sensitive to his recovery, but all Percy could think about was that Annabeth would have teased him relentlessly.

They stopped in Venice, and Hazel and Frank volunteered to go ashore to deliver the mysterious book. Percy volunteered to go with, but Piper said, “Percy, no, you’re grounded.”

“Uh, wouldn’t that mean I get to go on land?”

“Well--you’re whatever it is for being stuck on a ship.”

“Watered?” Leo suggested.

Percy might’ve found it funny under any other circumstance, but instead, it irritated him. and even Jason gently nudging Leo and whispering, “Dude, lay off,” didn’t make Percy feel any better. He didn’t like the idea of everyone tip-toeing around him all the time anymore than he wanted to joke around about being stuck on the ship.

As he watched Frank and Hazel leave, he wondered why Piper was so protective of him. She didn’t really know him, but she’d been taking as much care of him as Frank or Hazel had, maybe even more. 

While Frank and Hazel were gone, Percy took a minute to drop by her room.

He knocked on the open door frame and cleared his throat to announce himself.

“How do you feel?” she asked, as was her standard way of greeting him.

Percy had tried, the first few times, to lie and say, “Fine,” but she always managed to force the truth out of him with her very effective charmspeak. “Like a shriveled old man,” he answered honestly. He couldn’t seem to stay hydrated, and his joints ached like nothing he’d ever felt before. Even dunking himself in the ocean, which usually rejuvenated him, had had minimal success. He didn’t know if it was from the Imperial Gold chains, or if Polybotes had poisoned him at some point, but it was getting better, just way more slowly that Percy was used to. “I just wanted to ask--Were you and Annabeth close?”

“Sort of,” Piper answered. “I mean, we talked a lot at Camp Half Blood, when she wasn’t off looking for you or talking to your mom. So, yeah, I guess. Mostly we just talked about you, though.”

Percy tried to laugh, but it came out more like an awkward choking noise and his ears burned. “About me?”

Piper smiled and patted the bed, an invitation for him to come in and sit. It was a little weird, since he didn’t feel like he knew her, but it was also nice to feel like the rest of the crew cared about him.

“I’d imagine the Annabeth I know is very different from the one you know,” Piper said, “if only because she was like you are now.”

“What do you mean?”

“She was always on edge at Camp and when we left for the quest, and that’s always how I’ve known her. It was like, around every corner could be you, or could be some god heralding your death. She was constantly waiting for her hopes or fears to be realized at any moment. And she only got worse after we got to New Rome. There was a brief moment we thought we might find you in Atlanta--”

“Atlanta?”

“Dionysus--er, Bacchus--told us something about salt water and, anyway, I think she tried not to get her hopes up, but she couldn’t help it. She went rushing in and took Frank and Jason with her, and they were lucky to make it out alive. And then after we went to Charleston, she got really secluded, because she was dealing with the hunt for the Athena Parthenos, I guess, but I think she was getting too afraid to think about finding you. And that’s how I think you are now. You’re acting like you’re afraid that at any moment, you’ll find out she’s not coming back. And I want you to know you shouldn’t isolate yourself from us, okay? Jason and Leo are good people. They’ve had my back more times than I can count. Even if they seem… insensitive in their own ways, they do care, and they worry about you. And they’re worried about Annabeth, too. We all are. We all love her, maybe not as much as you, but we do. No one’s going to risk not getting to the Doors of Death in time, okay?”

Percy didn’t know how Piper knew that was what he needed to hear, but he felt worlds better, and he didn't think it was because of any magic. “You’re pretty incredible,” he said with a small laugh.

Piper laughed, too, and he noticed the way she fingered the knife on her belt. “Well, thanks. You’re pretty incredible, too. Frank and Hazel told us all that stuff you did for New Rome, and you couldn’t go ten feet at Camp Half Blood without hearing about Percy Jackson, and how you saved Olympus in the Titan War. Which, by the way, you should talk to Jason about sometime. He’s got some crazy stories of his own about the Titan War.”

“Yeah, I heard about some of that at Camp Jupiter. Wait, seriously, everyone was talking about me?”

Piper shoved him playfully, which shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did.

“Sorry, sorry,” she apologized quickly. “Come on, let’s get you some nectar and maybe a protein shake.”

“Can I have pizza yet?”

“Absolutely not.”

\--- --- --- 

When they got attacked by a giant sea turtle, and Percy was feeling about seventy-percent better, he thought it was the perfect time to make a real impression on the team. He dove straight into the water and punched its eyes, but even that didn't seem to do anything. In response, the turtle nearly swallowed him whole, and it was only thanks to some of Piper’s charmspeak that it got distracted enough to give Percy time to escape.

He pulled himself back up on deck. “No good,” he grumbled.

Leo, once again, saved the day by jetting them out. Then it was Jason and Hazel who fought the bandit Sciron, a son of Poseidon. Percy had a bad habit of running into gross sons of Poseidon. It made him feel a little grateful for who he was, but he still wished he could actually do something on this ship.

The best news they got was Jason’s dream. He dreamed that Annabeth had managed to get a message from Tartarus to Camp Half Blood, and Camp Half Blood had given it to the Romans.

“So she’s alive,” Percy said at the table, reluctantly eating the plate of greens Piper had prescribed him.

“She would have to be,” Jason said. “Can’t imagine how she got a message out of Tartarus, though.”

“And Nico,” Hazel interrupted, “did you see him?”

“I didn’t even see Annabeth. But Reyna read the note out loud, and it said that Nico was with her. So we can probably assume they’re both okay.”

Percy felt like someone had taken out an aching tooth. It still hurt, but in a different, more manageable way. Annabeth was alive, and he had proof. Or, Jason had dreamed proof. Whatever. It worked for him.

“But we need to change course,” Jason said. He must’ve seen the look in Percy’s eyes because he quickly added, “I promise it’s on the way. I had just forgotten about it. Reyna will look there for a message from me, and I’ll need to tell her we’re going to Epirus if she’s going to take the Athena Parthenos back to New York.”

Knowing Annabeth was alive took a huge weight off Percy’s shoulders. He even managed one game of “Go Fish!” with Leo and Hazel without getting distracted by worry over Annabeth.

When they got to the town of Split, Percy volunteered to go ashore, insisting he needed to actually do something. This time he got vetoed by Jason, who was sure they couldn’t take anyone Greek, so it was just him and Hazel that went ashore. When they got back, Hazel was carrying a scepter, and she seemed really shaken. Frank and Leo each tried to talk to her, but Jason told them to back off. That got Percy interested, and he approached Jason that night.

“Is Hazel really alright?” he asked as everyone left dinner to take care of their evening duties. Percy’s was “get better,” and Jason had a rest period after his quest. Percy figured the guy could spare five minutes for Percy to check in on his friend.

“She’ll be fine,” Jason said, then watched as Leo went to make repairs and Frank took his turn fighting monsters on deck. “We had to fight Cupid to get the scepter of Diocletian and he wasn’t exactly a friendly god.”

Percy hadn’t met Eros personally though he had run into some dangerous-looking statues on his first quest, and he remembered what Thanatos had said about the god of love. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. He wasn’t really concerned with me. Just her.”

“It was the Sammy thing?” Percy guessed.

Jason nodded. “You could probably talk to her. Maybe she could talk to Piper, but I don’t know. She was pretty shaken. And being worried about Nico on top of it--”

“I get it. I’ll just… see if she wants to talk. No pressure.”

“Good idea,” Jason agreed, and clapped Percy on the shoulder before disappearing to his own room.

Percy walked to the end of the hall and knocked gently on Hazel’s door. “Hey, it’s uh--It’s Percy. If you want to talk, I just want you to know, I’m here, okay?”

He waited a moment, and heard nothing, but just as he was about to walk away, Hazel opened the door and flung her shoulders around his neck. It was oddly affectionate for Hazel, who blushed when she held Frank’s hand, and had only given Percy a sisterly peck on the cheek once. He didn’t count the hug after he’d been rescued. Those kinds of hugs were under a different category.

After nearly squeezing him to death, Hazel took him inside her room and closed the door. Percy almost said something about the closed-door rule their chaperone Coach Hedge insisted on, but he decided it wasn’t worth bothering Hazel over. And it wasn’t like anything was going to happen between them.

Hazel sat down on her bed, and Percy awkwardly sat on the corner, not sure where else to sit. She sniffled a little and wiped her cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I just--I need someone to tell me that Nico’s going to be alright.”

“He is,” Percy said. “He and Annabeth are both going to be fine.” Saying it didn’t make him feel any better, but it looked like it comforted Hazel. “He promised me they’d make it to the Doors of Death, and I believe him.”

Hazel choked on another sob. “But that’s what I’m worried about! That line in the prophecy--’ _An oath to keep with a final breath._ ’ What if that was the promise?”

Percy took a risk and moved closer to wrap an arm around Hazel’s shoulder. “They’re going to be okay. We have to believe that. If we stop believing in that, we’ve lost them already.”

Hazel sniffed and wiped her cheeks again. “I know you’re right. But it’s so hard. How do you make it look so easy?”

Percy laughed. “Do I make it look easy? I’ll have you know I’m an anxious mess all the time. Talking to Piper helps, though. She’s good at talking.”

Hazel laughed at that, and it made Percy feel a little better. At least he wasn’t completely useless. At least he could still comfort a friend.

The next morning at breakfast, after telling Piper he was feeling less like a shriveled old man and more like a two-month old baby, she agreed to let him have pancakes. He covered them in enough syrup to fill a glass and dug in, prepared to eat at least fifteen. She cut him off at five and gave him nectar and another shake, filled with vegetables and other healthy things. It wasn’t the worst breakfast Percy had ever had, at least.

But Percy’s joy at being allowed real food again and feeling useful to his friends was only temporary. Later, when he was resting in his bunk, trying not to feel anxious about the pause for repairs, the temperature in the cabin dropped suddenly. Percy scrambled out of bed and tried to get to the doors to the upper deck, but they were coated in a thick layer of ice. He banged his shoulder against it, but it didn’t do any good.

“Frank!” he shouted, and heavy footsteps lumbered up the hallway.

“What’s going on?” Frank asked. “It’s freezing in here.”

“I don’t know, but maybe if we get this door down--” Percy threw his shoulder against it, and so did Frank. They didn’t even crack the ice.

“Can’t you like, control water?” Frank asked as they continued to try to weaken the door.

“Ice isn’t the same thing!”

“You made a blizzard-hurricane in Alaska!”

“Do you want me to make a blizzard-hurricane now?” Not that Percy thought he could. He wasn’t quite ready to do something that taxing. “You turn into a rhino or something.”

“You want me to turn into a rhinoceros on these tiny stairs?”

“Something!”

Frank turned into something large and heavy, which was just what they needed, except the ship suddenly lurched sideways and Frank fell on top of Percy. Percy groaned and tried to push Frank off, but it was all he could do to keep the ship from capsizing. He could tell they were moving fast, but he didn’t have the power to stop them. It wasn’t the water that was carrying them. And if he wasn’t careful, he could wash a tidal wave over the deck and anyone that was up there would be taking an unpleasant swim.

Hours later, when Hazel had finished bandaging Percy’s cracked ribs and given him a bit of ambrosia, and the ice had melted enough that gorilla-Frank was able to break through, they learned what had happened.

The ship had been attacked by an ice goddess and Piper had single-handedly defeated her.

“It wasn’t single-handedly,” Piper said as Frank tried to praise her. “It was Festus. He did all the work. And I wasn’t able to stop the bomb, and Leo’s missing, and Jason--”

Jason was shivering like an icicle and it sounded like he really had been one. Hazel brought him some blankets to help warm him up.

“Wh-where are w-we?” Jason asked through chattering teeth.

Percy answered, “Eighteen-twenty-five, and --”

“Percy, what are you doing?” Hazel asked.

“Our latitude and--” Percy shook his head. “You’re right, sorry.” He glance south of them. “I’m pretty sure that’s some part of Africa?” He pointed to the shore. “Zimbabwe, I think.”

“The engines are down, but can you and Jason guide us into port?” Piper asked. “If you’re both up for that?”

Jason nodded, and Percy had never been more pleased to be asked to do something.

\--- --- ---

Their time in Aethiopia was the worst part of the trip for Percy. It was agonizing, sitting around, waiting. Repairing the ship felt less like they were actually doing something than it did a distraction so they didn’t think about how they weren’t doing anything. Without Leo, it was hard to know what needed to be fixed, but Piper did a lot of translating for Festus, and Percy had a good instinct for boats. The mechanics part though, they’d have to leave that to Leo when they found him.

As Percy swam under the ship, looking for weak spots in the keel, he thought about how he could just get this ship out of here, with or without the permission of the southern winds. He could control the water currents. 

But when he’d brought this up to Jason several days earlier, Jason had said, “No, we can’t offend Auster. We don’t need two wind gods sending their children to kill us.”

So Percy fumed for days, while Jason came in and out of meetings with Auster or Notus, depending on how Greek or Roman the god of the southern winds was feeling.

He banged out a dent in the underside of the boat and repaired some of the oars they hadn’t had time to fix since their fight with the turtle, then went back up on deck.

“Done already?” Piper asked him.

Percy glanced at the setting sun. “I’ve been down there since lunch. And now I’m starving. Can I eat pizza yet?”

“Yeah, I think you’ve earned it,” she said with a smile. “But you’re still going to have some nectar. I’m worried about those ribs Frank cracked.”

“It only hurts if I breathe too hard,” Percy said.

“Yeah, that’s why I’m worried.”

Percy enjoyed his first slice of pizza in a long time, and obediently drank the nectar. It wasn’t like it tasted bad. As always, it tasted like his dream drink. But he was growing tired of feeling like an invalid. He was worried he wouldn’t be ready to fight when they got to the House of Hades. What if Piper said he wasn’t fit for battle? What if he wasn’t there to see Annabeth on the other side of the doors? What if she wasn’t there?

Well, Percy already knew the answer to the last question. He was going to go down those doors and find her.

Fortunately, the next day brought good news. Jason announced they were leaving. Percy grumbled, “Finally,” and prepared to help them out of port.

“I need you to stay below deck,” Jason told the team. “It’s going to get hot up here.”

“Even me?” Percy asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah. You can help from down there, just keep her steady. The winds are pulling us out of here.”

Percy wanted to explain to Jason that winds pushed ships, not pulled them, and he wanted to tell him about tacking and jibing, to make sure they didn’t tear the sails, but Piper dragged him below deck. He wondered if wind-expert trumped boat-expert, or if boat-expert should trump wind-expert.

“He knows what he’s doing,” Piper said with a smile.

Percy didn’t know how she always knew the right thing to say.

For the next six hours, Percy sat in the hallway of the lower deck, feeling the ocean move beneath them. They were going fast, and whatever currents he could supply really didn’t help a whole lot. He wondered how Jason was doing it. Part of him was a little jealous, but more than anything, he was glad they were back on track to getting to Annabeth. He just hoped their delay in Africa hadn’t made them too late.

When the ship slowed, Piper went up on deck to check on Jason. Percy kind of wanted to make her a white smock and a little cap with a red cross on it. She was really taking to the role of team medic, and he wanted to give her credit for it.

They arrived in Malta, and they found Leo sitting at a small cafe overlooking the harbor. Percy hadn’t known Leo long, but even he could tell something was off as they sat there, eating sandwiches and drinking coffee. Well, Leo was drinking coffee, which was weird. Percy had a coke.

When Frank read the pamphlet that Malta was supposedly the old home of Calypso, it clicked. Leo looked the way Percy had felt when he’d come back from Ogygia. Only back then, it had been really complicated with Annabeth and Rachel. He wondered if Leo was feeling those same complexities with Hazel, or if he was just plain heartsick for Calypso. The latter was probably worse, Percy thought. It meant Leo had come back solely for the quest, because he knew he was needed, and not because someone else called to his heart.

Once they were all back on the ship, and Leo was doing some engine repairs so they could get moving without Jason nearly frying his arms off, Percy slipped away from Piper’s determined care to talk to him.

“Hey,” Percy said, as Leo fiddled with the sphere and the console.

“Now’s not a good time, man,” Leo tightened something with a screwdriver, then slipped it back into his pocket. He pulled out a hammer and banged on something until it sparked.

“Are you sure?”

Leo banged something else, but accidentally caught his thumb. He yelped and stuck it in his mouth. “Yeah, I’m sure, Jackson. Give a guy some space, okay?”

Sometimes Jason called him "Jackson," and Percy returned it with "Grace," and Leo and Frank occasionally called each other by last name, but Leo had never done it with Percy. It stung a little, and only confirmed Percy’s suspicion about Calypso. He wanted to know what Calypso had said about him, but that was probably not the right question to ask just now.

“Look, Leo, it’s okay. I just wanted to let you know if you do want to talk, you can talk to me, okay? I told the gods to release her, but obviously…. Well, I don’t mind, if you want to talk to someone who understands.”

Leo gave him a look that clearly said, “I told you not now,” but it fizzled out, and he banged something else with his hammer. It got a serious dent, and Percy wondered if that was intentional.

“Yeah, well, thanks,” Leo finally said. “Now will you give a guy some space to work?”

“Sure, sure,” Percy said. “I just--Piper gave me advice about not isolating myself, and it was good advice. She told me everyone cared about Annabeth, and you know everyone cares about you, right? So if--”

“Dude, I said I need space, not a Hallmark greeting card.”

“Right. Okay. Leaving now.” Percy backed up, confidence flagging a little. Just as he stepped down from the upper deck, he heard Leo sigh heavily, and Percy resisted the urge to turn around and offer more support. Maybe Piper or Jason were better suited to the task. Either way, he’d have to let Leo come to one of them in his own time.

\--- --- ---

They arrived in Epirus with little trouble after that. Percy was ready to go straight down, but Piper held him back and made sure they all ate their barely cake. It was worse than all those vegetable smoothies Piper had been making him drink, and that was saying a lot.

Then it was down into the House of Hades. Hazel led the way, and cautioned them to step only where she stepped. Percy wondered if a fall would take him straight down into Tartarus. He thought about giving it a try, but quickly shook the thought out of his head. She’d be at the doors. She’d be there.

The further down they went, the creepier it got. Then Frank started seeing ghosts and Percy just hoped he didn’t see any ghosts. There were a lot of ghosts he imagined would bother him. Charles Beckendorf…. Silena Beauregard…. Bianca di Angelo…. Luke Castellan….

Hazel warned them against thinking of lost loved ones, and Percy tried to clear his head. There was only one person he wanted to see, and that was Annabeth Chase. If her ghost appeared, well, he wasn’t sure what he’d do, because that wasn’t an option.

Just when Percy was beginning to think they had to be close, they got penned in by monsters. 

“Now’s a good time for that scepter, Hazel,” Jason shouted.

Hazel raised Diocletian’s scepter and brought it down. The corridors filled with hundreds of Roman ghosts, but the ground beneath Percy’s feet began to crack. He ran after Hazel, and a chasm opened up beneath their feet. Jason and Piper ran the opposite way. Percy, Frank, Leo, and Hazel had barely made it to the other side, when there was a cave-in, and Frank just managed to pull Percy out of the way.

Percy scrambled to his feet, wiping dust and rubble from his clothes and face. He looked at the cave-in and dread settled in his stomach. “No!” he shouted, and started grabbing at rubble, pulling it loose.

“Hazel!” Frank shouted.

“I’m alright!” she called back. “Leo too!”

“I’m coming to get you!”

“It’s too unstable,” Hazel shouted back. “Leo and I will go on ahead. Find another way!”

Percy barely heard them. He had one thought on his mind, and that was that Annabeth was waiting for him if he could just get past this rubble. He didn’t even notice that the ceiling was cracking overhead until Frank grabbed his arm and pulled him away.

“Percy! Hazel said it’s unstable. We can’t go that way.”

“Annabeth’s that way!” Percy shouted at him.

“Percy, listen, she’ll be alright. We’ll get to her. But right now, we have to help Jason and Piper.”

“But--”

“Trust Hazel and Leo. You have to. Just like you trusted Nico.”

Percy felt too many emotions for a clear-head, but he could tell that Frank understood how Percy was feeling, at least a little. Frank must want nothing more than to go after Hazel, but Piper and Jason needed them more. Percy could trust Hazel and Leo to take care of Annabeth when they found her. It wasn’t easy, but when Frank framed it that way, it helped.

“Okay. Jason and Piper,” Percy agreed, and breathed out slowly. “But let’s make it quick. Fly us across the chasm.”

But Frank’s shape didn’t change. “Uh--I can’t.”

“I thought you had a grip on your powers!”

“I did! I do, but--” Frank looked down and he and Percy simultaneously noticed the arrow sticking out of Frank’s arm. “It might be the injury,” Frank said. He snapped the bow and pulled it out, then tied a tourniquet with his torn sleeve. “Come on. We can edge across.”

Percy didn’t like that idea very much, but he did as Frank did, and shimmied his way across a very thin support beam.

He uncapped Riptide and the weight felt good in his hands. He hadn’t actually fought with it in a long time. He was rusty, he noticed, and slower than he was used to, but it was okay because the ghost soldiers milling about caused quite a bit of confusion, enough that Percy could fight.

Percy didn’t understand what the soldiers were supposed to be doing, but he also didn’t really care. He was venting weeks of anxiety and pent-up frustrations on these monsters, and he very quickly got back into the swing of battle.

At one point, the soldiers got in formation, but Percy was too busy pushing telkhines and earthborn into the pit to bother with the Roman ghosts. He was focused solely on fighting, on the destruction of these armies that stood between him and Annabeth.

It wasn’t until the monsters started to thin out that he noticed Jason, Frank, and Piper centered inside a ring of legionnaire ghosts in perfect formation. He was kind of glad he wasn’t in that center with them, because he wouldn’t have been able to do nearly as much fighting.

As the last of the monsters retreated, and Frank dismissed the ghosts, they paused for breath.

“Frank,” Jason said slowly, “that was incredible. You were literally glowing.”

Piper nodded. “And Percy--we kept calling you. Didn’t you hear us?”

Percy shook his head. He hadn’t heard anything over the battle and the roar in his ears. It had reminded him, a bit, of fighting with the curse of Achilles. The way he actually didn’t care if he got hit or not, because it wouldn’t matter. 

“You had me worried,” Frank said with a weak smile as Piper took some ambrosia out of her pack and passed bite-sized pieces around.

“Me?” Percy said. “I can handle myself.”

“I felt the pressure drop. I thought you were summoning another storm. I was afraid you were going to bring the place down on top of us.”

“Oh.” Percy didn’t feel like telling them that he probably would have summoned a full hurricane, except he wasn’t quite up to full-strength yet. He should probably be more careful of things like that, especially around Jason, who could probably drastically affect the weather too. “Well, I didn’t, so--how do we get farther down?”

“We’ve got to help Hazel and Leo,” Frank agreed. “I think I know a way we can go.”


End file.
